ATP Australia Open Betting Odds Comparison

Winter can seem a sad and lonely place for tennis fans as the great game has something of a hibernation period following the ATP World Tour finals in November. That slow period well and truly ends with the Australian Open, which takes place in Melbourne every January, and here we take a closer look at the first Grand Slam of the tennis year.

Of course, there are a few warm up events but these are just the first course before the final two weeks of January see the Australian Open take centre stage and tennis really return to the public eye. For many fans the four Grand Slams are the only events they really watch and certainly the only tournaments they will bet on. Whilst Wimbledon is probably number one for UK bettors, as the first Grand Slam of the season the Australian Open is always hotly anticipated, with many betting sites offering some great betting offers and promotions for both new and existing customers.

The Australian Open was first held back in 1905 and with more than 100 years of history it is an event with huge prestige. Of course, whilst glory will be the number one goal for some tennis players, for others, especially those lower down the world rankings, the huge prize money on offer at the Australian Open is also a massive motivating factor.

Back in 1905, when the tournament was known as the Australasian Championships and was sometimes held in New Zealand, few overseas players took part. Initially the tournament wasn’t a major, only being designated as such in 1924. In 1927 it became the Australian Championships before being renamed as the Australian Open as recently as 1969. It wasn’t until the late 1970s, however, that the event really opened up to global participation and only in 1988 did it find a permanent home in on Melbourne’s hard courts.

Prior to that the scheduling of the event, early in the new year and not too long after Christmas, the relatively low prize money in the sport and the simple fact of Australia’s remoteness meant that it was dominated by home players, with few non-Australians even entering.

Of course, that has very much changed in recent times and with $44m (Australian) on offer in the 2016 tournament, including more than £1.25m for the winner, the Australian Open now attracts a field as good as any tournament in the world.

That hasn’t been so great for home players, with the last Australian man to win this wonderful event being Mark Edmondson, way back in 1976. That year he beat the 1975 winner and fellow Aussie, John Newcombe in the final but in more recent times the chances of an Australian even making the men’s final have looked remote.

Lleyton Hewitt was the last man to do that, in 2005, with Pat Cash also a losing finalist in 1987 and 1988 but as of 2016 it would take a brave person to bet on any home grown players ending the long drought.

Novak Djokovic has been the dominant force recently, winning five Australian Open titles since 2008 and it seems only a matter of time before the Serbian great joins Ausssie legend Roy Emerson on six championships. Whoever wins in Melbourne though, when the first ball is served at the Australian Open we can be sure that the tennis season will have well and truly begun.